Florida Academy of Pediatric Dentistry reaches Medicaid settlement

April 08, 2016Tallahassee, Fla. — The Florida Academy of Pediatric Dentistry and Florida Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics announced April 5 that they've reached a settlement with Florida's Medicaid program to improve children's access to dental and medical.

The class-action lawsuit, filed in 2005, accused Florida's Medicaid program — known as the Statewide Medicaid Managed Care program — of failing to pay doctors enough for treating 1.9 million children with government-supported health coverage.

The settlement agreement requires Florida Medicaid and other state agencies to make "substantial improvements in the access of children on Medicaid to medical and dental care throughout the state," according to a release from the Public Interest Law Center, the Philadelphia firm that represented the Florida Academy of Pediatric Dentistry, Florida Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics and parents of children denied care.

The improvements include Florida Medicaid pledging the following:

Increasing the percentage of children receiving preventive medical care to match the national norms by 2019.

Working collaboratively with FCAAP and FAPD on an ongoing basis.

Increasing the percentage of children receiving preventive dental care and treatment by 2021.

"The Academy is pleased that the mediated settlement of the lawsuit will create an opportunity for improved access for the children at highest risk for dental disease and that the hope for these improvements will not be delayed any further," said Dr. Eric Berry, FAPD president.